catalyst-chicago.org

The White House on Thursday outlined how states can get relief from provisions of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act – or No Child Left Behind (NCLB) – in exchange for serious state-led efforts to close achievement gaps, promote rigorous accountability, and ensure that all students are on track to graduate college- and career-ready.

States can request flexibility from specific NCLB mandates that are stifling reform, but only if they are transitioning students, teachers, and schools to a system aligned with college- and career-ready standards for all students, developing differentiated accountability systems, and undertaking reforms to support effective classroom instruction and school leadership, a press release from the U.S. Education Department said.

Chicago's charter schools will host a rally Saturday that is expected to draw 5,000 charter parents, teachers and administrators to UIC Pavilion. The rally, organized by the Illinois Network of Charter Schools and New Schools for Chicago, formerly called the Renaissance Schools Fund, runs from 10 a.m. to noon. The rally will be the first time the charter movement has come together to call on CPS and city leadership to provide more charter opportunities, organizers say. (Tribune)

On the announced elimination of jobs at CPS:

WBEZ/AP: The Chicago Public Schools has announced the elimination of 200 positions in the chief education office, which will result in a savings of $16 million.

Sun-Times: Chicago Public Schools to cut 200 office jobs to save $16 million.

Catalyst: Hundreds of CPS employees face potential layoffs to save $16 million.

Residents in Chicago's Chatham neighborhood are dismayed that the Chicago Public Schools has put students with disciplinary records in their area without warning. There are now 45 students in grades six through 12 enrolled at the Richard Milburn School, which has moved into St. Clotilde Church, in the 8400 block of South Calumet Avenue. (NBC Chicago)

National Louis University on Thursday launched the second year of a community partnership, called the Chicago Urban Teaching Academy Program  with Wells Community Academy High School. CUTAP gives high school students a taste of the teaching profession before they enter college. The program exposes Wells Community Academy High School students who are interested in a career in post-secondary education to a rigorous, college-preparatory curriculum, which National Louis helps to develop. (press release)

IN THE STATE

By an overwhelming 97 percent majority, the Elmhurst Teachers Council rejected a proposed new contract, officials from Elmhurst Community Unit School District 205 reported Wednesday. (Trib Local)

IN THE NATION

The number of crowded classes in New York is the largest in 10 years, according to a survey conducted by the teachers union and released on Thursday. As a result of attrition, budget cuts and increased enrollment in some areas of the city, nearly 7,000 classes are over their contractual limits this year, the survey, by the United Federation of Teachers, found. That figure exceeds last year’s number by almost 1,000. The union says that about 256,000 students, roughly a quarter of total enrollment, spend at least part of the school day in an overcrowded class. (The New York Times)

Teachers in Washington state's third-largest school district approved a new contract Thursday, ending a 10-day strike that had kept Tacoma's 28,000 students at home for more than a week.  Nearly 99 percent of teachers voted to approve a deal brokered Wednesday night by Gov. Chris Gregoire, who called representatives from the district and the teachers union to her office in Olympia after negotiations stalled. (The Seattle Times)

Michelle Rhee, the former head of public schools in the District of Columbia, urged young teachers Thursday in Philadelphia to back legislation that would end layoffs based on seniority. (Philadelphia Inquirer)